They're Biting!

They're Biting!
Capt. Jesse Register releasing an over slot redfish.

Monday, January 6, 2014

December 2013 Fishing Report

I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday season with their families and friends. December is always a hectic month and never disappoints. I got the invite from Kevin Fenn, of East Cape Skiffs, to go up to Louisiana for five days to fish giant redfish in the marsh. It was an incredible trip, check out my blog for a full report of the trip. After getting home from Louisiana, I was eager to get back on out on the lagoon.
Paul, of VMarine, with a sight fished gator trout.

During the month of December we dealt with some dramatic weather fluctuations. There were days I was wearing board shorts and was bare foot on the skiff and there were days you had to wear multiple layers. The temperatures and winds were all over the place.
Chilly morning and a trout in need of a tummy-tuck.
I spent most of the month targeting gator trout the Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River are known for.I love going after big trout, it's probably my favorite fish to target in the Mosquito Lagoon. Imagine poling a flat, easing along, doing your best not to let the fish know you are there. As you pole along, you see three or four large shadows in a sandy pot hole on your flat. Even better, poling along and seeing 10 pound trout "backing", with it's back and tail out of the water, and getting to sight fish her.

An average Mosquito Lagoon trout.
Targeting the big trout, you need to employ a stealth approach. These fish are as spooky as any particular species of fish I've targeted. The majority of the time, the fish has sensed your presence long before you see them. Trout are incredibly well camouflaged, a bird's eye view of a trout laying in turtle grass is almost impossible to see. A tactic I employ a lot during the winter is to concentrate on sand holes, there are two reasons for this... You stand a much better chance of spotting a fish over a white sand hole (which they like to frequent) and number 2, if they aren't laying in the sand hole, then there is a good chance they are laying in the grass near the edge of the sand hole waiting to ambush prey.

Paul with another large trout.
I spent a couple days on the water with Paul Volkerson of VMarine. It seems every time I fish with Paul we get into some big fish. each day we fished together we dealt with high winds and low temperatures. We went to one of Paul's spots and it was loaded. Within mintues of shutting down the motor and getting on the push pole we blew out 10-15 big trout out of one sand hole. For some reason, whenever I go to somebody's favorite spot, it usually a little less than described. After spooking that many fish, that quickly, I knew it was going to be a good day. We were on the water for three hours and caught seven big trout, all over six pounds. We had shots at them laid up, shots at them tailing and ,a first for me, doubled up on two gator trout.

This is a great time of year for fishing in Mosquito Lagoon. If you'd like to get out on the water and target some big fish in shallow water, give me a call.

Capt. Jesse
407.448.2017
Flyin' High Charters

Releasing a big trout to create another memory for another angler.

"See ya!"